"Doug Risebrough will leave for Slovakia on Sunday for a trip he hopes "kills two birds with one stone."

The Wild general manager is flying overseas to scout the Ivan Hlinka tournament, an under-18 tournament with several 2010 draft-eligible players.

But Risebrough's real intent, and undoubtedly the most important, is to make a side trip to Trencin, the hometown of Marian Gaborik, for a conversation with the high-scoring right winger.

Gaborik, 26, the Wild's all-time leader with 206 goals and 414 points, is a year from unrestricted free agency. In the coming days, the Wild plans to offer Gaborik a groundbreaking extension in hopes of locking him up for four to seven years.

But the Wild has held off commencing negotiations until Risebrough can sit down with Gaborik, "look him in the eye," and make sure Gaborik wants to commit long-term to Minnesota.

Risebrough said he planned to call Gaborik this weekend to set up the meeting."